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Several steps lined up before Riverhead Town, CAT can finalize sale

The Riverhead Town Board last week voted 3-2 in favor of a resolution to find Calverton Aviation & Technology qualified and eligible to purchase the approximately 1,600 acres of town-owned land at Enterprise Park at Calverton.

So what happens now?

Among some of the next steps that must be undertaken before the sale can be finalized are as follows:

CAT must make a $500,000 deposit within five days of signing the contract, which must be done within 10 days of Nov. 7, when the Q&E designation was made, according to Ms. Jens-Smith.

Following this, CAT must enter a 90-day “due diligence” period where it must perform all inspections and environmental and zoning studies of the property, as well as all geotechnical, soils, wetlands and environmental reports about the EPCAL land, according to the contract.

CAT can ask for an additional 90-day extension under the contract, but it must also make a second $500,000 payment to do so.

The initial $500,000 deposit will be released either at closing, when the deal is complete, or if CAT fails to provide a notice to proceed, or a notice of extension before the last day of the due diligence period, according to the agreement.

If CAT doesn’t provide a notice to proceed or a notice seeking an extension by that time, the agreement is terminated.

CAT also must spend at least $1 million to make infrastructure improvements to the runways at EPCAL during the period beginning with the closing of the sale and ending two years later, according to the contract.

CAT also must be issued building permits to construct 1 million square feet of buildings, which it said it will do within the first five years after the transfer of the property.

CAT said in a press release that the site is zoned to accommodate 9.8 million square feet of development, and is “primed for development with Navy-built infrastructure that includes sewer, freight rail access and two non-intersecting runways, which at 10,000 and 8,000 feet apiece, are two of the longest runways in the country.”

Photo caption: Riverhead Town Hall was packed last Wednesday when the Town Board voted on the Q&E resolution. (Credit: Tim Gannon)

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